Here are some serious side effects of meal replacement shakes. We have also shared our best alternatives that you should take for your better health.

Health Threats

Synthetic vitamins and minerals

I read an article, that a lot of our vitamins and supplements today actually come from mineral salts. They come from the rock like limestone, in fact, calcium carbonate today and a lot of our calcium supplements are actually rocks. They’re really not absorbable by our body.

Did you know that taking certain forms of calcium can actually cause calcification of your arteries because your body isn’t absorbing? There are several medical studies published on PubMed showing that taking certain vitamins and supplements can actually be detrimental to your health. And the reason is they’re not real. They’re synthetic.

We should be getting our vitamins and minerals from fruits, from vegetables, organic meat, sprouted nuts, and seeds from real food as well as you can get them from whole food-based certified organic vitamins but today a lot of people are just getting their vitamins and supplements certain grocery stores or really not paying much. They’re really just getting synthetic vitamins and what it’s actually doing is there are side effects.

Excess added sugar

Sugar feeds yeast within the body and Candida. It actually can feed cancer cells in certain instances. Overall it will zap your energy, increasing your risk of diabetes. So excess sugar, one of the most dangerous things you could consume on a daily basis. So you absolutely want to get sugar completely out of your diet.

But listen, sugar is in everywhere. But it can be found in especially high amounts in meal replacement powders and even certain protein powders today.

Artificial ingredients

Artificial ingredients, especially aspartame and sucralose. Those are two you want to stay away from is aspartame and sucralose. These toxic artificial sweeteners may actually cause tumor growth within the body. They may cause short term memory loss. They may actually also cause weight gain. And sucralose, something a lot of people consume today and is found on a good majority of meal replacement powders and protein powders.

Sucralose actually has chlorine attached to it from a chemical standpoint. And when chlorine is attached, chlorine has antibacterial properties and so what it can do it actually kill off probiotics in the gut.

So I would recommend staying away from all artificial sweeteners and artificial ingredients. You know, there’s a lot of pesticides and chemicals that from if you’re doing a certain grain protein powders such as a brown rice protein that’s not certified organic and sprouted, well, that brown rice protein is typically very high in arsenic and other chemicals as well, but you want to stay away from any artificial ingredients.

Low protein/fiber

While consuming meal replacement, you look for a good healthy amount of natural organic protein that comes from something like bone broth or nuts and seeds like hemp seeds or something like that. So you want a good amount of protein. You want some good healthy fiber from berries, and seeds like flax and chia, maybe some green superfoods like spirulina, things like that.

So you want to get, should be high protein high fiber, maybe some healthy fat as well from things like coconut milk powder in coconut and then antioxidants. Well, a lot of these meal replacements today they’re low protein and low fiber. Maybe they just have one of the two.

When you’re doing a meal replacement you really want to be getting good quality protein and good quality fiber, because if not, most of those other ingredients are going to imbalance your blood sugar levels causing you to gain weight. So, again, make sure it’s got a good amount of protein and a healthy amount of fiber. Typically 10 grams of protein or more at least at the very minimum, ideally too close to the 20 plus and then at least 5 grams of fiber but closer to 8 plus would be better there.

Inflammatory ingredients

You know, inflammation is the root cause of most disease today. If you think about anything ends with an “-itis“ that’s inflammation, rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, even heart disease. You know, high cholesterol, that’s because you’re having inflammation in your body. In fact, even most autoimmune disease starts with inflammation to the gut lining then goes and affects other areas of the body.

So autoimmune disease, heart disease, diabetes, weight gain, ulcerative colitis, and digestive issues, they’re all inflammation-related. Well, there’s a lot of inflammatory ingredients and additives found in meal replacement powders today. And especially if you’re looking at certain types of isolated white whey protein or hydrolyzed whey protein, those are very inflammatory.

Oftentimes especially if somebody has a food allergy to dairy they don’t do well with that. If there’s any type of gluten or wheat products or corn products, those are highly inflammatory. Most grains in general especially if they’re processes at all are going to be very inflammatory to the body.

Hydrogenated oils

You know, it is shocking to see how often they sneak in soybean oil into meal replacement powders and other ingredients. You know, when you’re looking at salad dressings that are supposedly healthy and other things, they sneak soybean oil and canola oil into a lot of products.

Those are partially hydrogenated oils that are very inflammatory to the body. So you want to stay away from all hydrogenated oils and look for healthier oils.

Better options

Pureed healthy soups

If a patient has Candida or any type of inflammatory bowel disease. You know, we tend to think of soup being maybe like a lunch thing. You know, you do soup during lunch but I think you can do sort of healthy soups for breakfast. And I love doing a healthy pumpkin soup or carrot soup for breakfast or for lunch or as a meal replacement.

So one of the things I did recently is I do a warm pumpkin smoothie for breakfast, which is like a soup. I do about a cup of pumpkin, so just regular organic canned pumpkin, I’ll add in about a cup of coconut milk. Then add in some pumpkin pie spice like some cinnamon and ginger and cloves in there. And then I’ll add in about a scoop of a bone broth powder and then a little bit of honey or maple syrup. And I drink that and it tastes amazing but it’s like a warm pumpkin smoothie or pumpkin soup.

Pumpkin is actually good for drying up Candida and really good for healthy bowel movements. It is packed with fiber. You want to get protein and fiber in those pumpkins as a fiber powerhouse as are carrots full of beta carotene and a lot of antioxidants that are great and incredible for your skin and your brain and for your gut.

Bone broth powder protein

Getting bone broth in your diet in powder form. This is the ultimate meal replacement. In fact, that’s what I did this morning for breakfast. I did some cinnamon apple protein powder that comes from bone broth. And then I did a little bit of collagen. I did some oatmeal. So I did a cinnamon apple bone broth oatmeal smoothie for breakfast. It was absolutely delicious.

But again, bone broth is loaded with glucosamine and chondroitin and hyaluronic acid. It’s loaded with proline, glycine, and glutamine and these nutrients are crucial for supporting your gut health and your joints, and your skin, hair, and nails, and your immune system and even detoxification.

You can add bone broth powdered protein to healthy soups, to green smoothies, you can add them to all these things. So it’s a great natural meal replacement and doing a bone broth-based meal replacement is the best when it comes to meal replacements.

Chia seeds

This is a great option for a meal replacement and I actually like making sort of a chia seed bowl for breakfast or a chia seed pudding. Sometimes I’ll add like a chocolate protein powder from bone broth, and there’s some coconut milk. And chia seeds are packed with fiber, protein, and Omega 3 fatty acids. Really, chia seeds are one of nature’s perfect superfoods and I love to hear from you if you consume chia seeds.

Organic eggs

Raw eggs are the real deal and I add raw eggs to my smoothies in the morning fairly frequently. Organic eggs are packed with protein. In fact, it’s where the best forms of protein for putting on muscle. Also, the yolk of eggs is packed with Vitamin E, Omega 3 fatty acids, choline, and other nutrients that actually support the brain.

Organic kefir/yogurt

These are really rich in probiotics and most people are completely deficient in probiotics. So if you want to get more probiotics in your diet, kefir and yogurt are the best.

I typically recommend goat’s milk kefir or sheep’s milk yogurt or things like that. Most cow’s milk today people have more sensitivities too in terms of allergies.

Coconut, nuts, fruits

You know, coconut contains medium chained fatty acids which are great for your body to burn and this is kind of steady energy. So I add sometimes a tablespoon of coconut oil to a smoothie. A lot of times I’ll add in coconut milk. But coconut we know is full of fiber and fat. In fact, if you’re on a ketogenic diet the best two things you could consume are probably coconut products as well as bone broth together.

You know, getting more flax seeds and hemp seeds, other Omega 3-rich nuts are great, adding in nut butter. And then almond butter is great to add. And then the fruit of all types can be good to add to a smoothie. Bananas are good if you want to add creaminess. Berries are probably the healthiest overall because of their high antioxidant level.

Some Important References:

Can Meal Replacement Shakes Help You Lose Weight? – by –  Healthline

8 Best Meal Replacement Shakes to Lose Weight Naturally – by – TheFitIndian

The Pros and Cons of Meal Replacement Shakes – by – Barbend

5 Reasons to Avoid Most Meal Replacement Shakes – by – Dr.Axe

Meal Replacement Shakes Benefits and Side Effects – by- Healthtrends